Ordinary Day
On the afternoon of October 16, 2008, Anne "Freckles" Lamarck was finishing lunch and waiting for her long-time crush, Nick Garibaldi, to meet up with her when she began to daydream about him. Nick was a very strong young man standing at 5'11" and weighing around 225 pounds with deep green eyes, jet black hair styled in a buzz cut, a beautifully tanned complexion, a deep voice, and an amazing physique resulting from workouts for Whitehall High's wrestling team. He also had a major passion for comic books, particularly works by Stan Lee. His most endearing quality, however, was his outgoing personality and ability to make anyone smile on a bad day with his uplifting nature and silly jokes. Freckles and Nick had been close friends since junior high, but she didn't have romantic feelings for him until sophomore year of high school. As soon as she developed those romantic feelings, she told him how she felt, but he told her that he loved her as a non-blood sister figure rather than a girlfriend. Although she was understandably crushed by the news, she remained friends with him as he reassured her that their strong sibling-like bon would never be broken. Even though a year and half had passed since she told Nick her feelings for him, she still had a number of vivid fantasies and dreams about him that she never dared to tell him. They were extremely raunchy dreams, and she felt that he would be extremely embarrassed if she told him about them. The only people she felt comfortable sharing this information with were her fellow Tudor Six girls.
As Freckles sat in the cafeteria, she felt her heart beat faster and her throat tighten as she remembered Nick's boisterous and infectious laugh. Then, her legs began to shake as she replayed images in her mind in which he removed his shirt in slow motion, revealing his toned body that was similar to Hugh Jackman's right down to the hairs covering his chest. After replaying those images, she then began to wonder what Nick looked like naked and began to let out a moan before catching herself and becoming aware of her surroundings. Her face turned beet red with embarrassment as she remembered she was in Whitehall's school cafeteria and not in her bedroom. The last thing she wanted to do was moan and scream in public like she did in her room when having sexual fantasies about Nick.
When Freckles regained her composure, she took a quick sip of bottled water and then looked to see if Nick was coming by when she felt to strong arms embrace her from behind. She smirked knowing it was Nick, turned around to face him, and said, "Hey, you!" "Hey, yourself," he said back as he sat next to her. He then asked her, "How has your day been so far?" "Ehhhhh…rather boring. Nothing to exciting just yet," she said. "Really? I would have thought you had been dreaming of Christian Bale in the nude based on how red your face is," Nick teased while giving her a wink. Letting out a chuckle and pushing the middle of her glasses with her middle finger, Freckles replied, "Get your mind out of the gutter for one day, dude! Girls don't think about sex every ten seconds like boys do." "That's not true! Totally not true," Nick said in a sarcastic tone. "Yeah, sure," Freckles said dryly with a smirk on her face. "In all seriousness though, you are the most exciting part of this ordinary day," she added. "Thanks, sis," he said. Freckles then asked him, "How's the day been for you?" "Mine has also been very boring, a rather ordinary day for this ordinary boy," Nick said trying to add some humor to the conversation. They then chatted about Halloween, Comic Book Club, the upcoming semi-formal, and the latest gossip surrounding Mr. Hart until the bell rang to end lunch.
"It's been great catching up as always, sis! I will see you later," Nick said as he and Freckles exited the cafeteria and entered the hallway to get to their classes. "See you then, brotha," Freckles said as she watched Nick depart. As soon as Nick was out of her sight, she told herself, "That was a close one!" Meanwhile, Nick began to feel his heart racing and thought to himself, "If only she knew what I have felt about her for all this time…I can't let her know that I love her with all my heart. It would destroy our friendship. I just can't let that happen! Well, this is just another ordinary day."
A/N: The inspiration behind Nick's last name is the famous Italian revolutionary leader Giuseppe Garibaldi. The inspiration for the title of this chapter is Vanessa Carlton's song "Ordinary Day."